Hi, my name is Fr. Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Bible in a year podcast where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a year podcast is brought to you by ascension using the great adventure Bible timeline. We'll read all the way from Genesis to revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story. Today it is 't want to give it away, but he wins the 400 meters dash. But at one point, when he was supposed to be in the heats, instead, he was preaching in one of the churches in the area.And he, in the movie at least, he is quoting Isaiah, chapter 40, where he says that God gives power to the faint and to him who has no might. He increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted. But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles.They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. And so powerful. Eric little went on to become a missionary, I believe, in China, where he gave his life for the Lord as a martyr. And so we're just, you know, so grateful for the example of all of those martyrs who got their strength from the Lord Jesus, including those martyrs, those current modern day martyrs.Even, even more people have given their lives for Jesus Christ. In the last century, than in all the other centuries combined, which is amazing. And Eric little is one of those people. So that's Isaiah, chapter 39 and 40. But we also got introduced to the book of Ezekiel.A little background on Ezekiel. Ezekiel was a priest, not only a prophet, right. He's a prophet, Ezekiel, but he was a priest. He was of the household of Levi, right? Tribe of Levi, household of Aaron, he would imagine, because he was a priest, and he is taken into exile.In fact, remember, there are three stages of exile. There's the first wave of exile that happens, and that is when Daniel is brought into exile. That happens way back, all the way back in 605 BC, and then roughly, gosh, seven years later, I'm bad with math, in 597 BC, that's the second wave of exile. And that's when Ezekiel went into exile in Babylon. And now Ezekiel says he starts.He begins this book of the prophet Ezekiel, saying in the 30th year, when he turned 30. Now, think about this. He's been exiled. He's away from the temple. But being a priest of the Lord God, he would have begun his temple worship or temple service.I mean, at 30 years old, that's when he would have begun this. And instead, he's by this river Chadar and in Babylon, in the land of the Chaldeans. And we just recognize that here is this man who had so much hope, right? Had so much promise, because he was raised. He lived under the time of Josiah, where he saw all this reform.You have the reinstitution of the priesthood. You have the reinstitution of true and proper worship happening in the temple. And here is Ezekiel, who has been prepped for this his whole life. And then, bam, here comes the Babylonians, and they take the people of Israel into exile in 605. And then here's Ezekiel and his wife are brought into exile in 597, and he's among the captives.And it's there. It's in this place that he sees something remarkable. And obviously, we have the whole description of the four figures. And then above them, seated on the throne, is someone who looks like he's containing fire itself. And the big takeaway I want to just offer is this.Ezekiel was brought from Jerusalem, brought from the temple, where the presence of God was. He's brought to a land that is foreign, where he's a captive, where he is not home, where God, in some ways, you say doesn't exist. God doesn't abide there, right? He abides in Jerusalem, although God is everywhere. And what does God reveal to Ezekiel?God reveals to Ezekiel that he has gone with his people into exile. And this is so incredible. This is so remarkable that God has not abandoned his people. Remember, this exile is because they have been unfaithful. This exile is for their remedy, right?It's for their healing. It's for bringing their hearts back. And what is revealed in the very first words of first chapter, of course, of the book of Ezekiel is that as God's people are brought into exile, God himself allows himself to go into exile with them. And that is just. Oh, gosh, if that doesn't touch your heart, I just don't even know.It's incredible. One last note before we take a break for today is there's these four creatures, right? These four living creatures, and they have four faces and the face of a man, face of a lion, face of ox, face of an eagle. And they're just really remarkable. We'll see this kind of image in other places.We see allusions to this in Daniel and revelation and whatnot. But the church fellows have always interpreted that these faces have an allusion to the gospel writers. And so you have, historically, you have Matthew as the face of the man, and the face of the lion is Mark, the face of the ox is Luke, and the face of the eagle is John. And some of the ways we would interpret that is eagle because John is the eagle, because he begins in the beginning, was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. And so it starts really high and lofty, right like the eagle soaring.Luke is the ox, because Luke is talking about the sacrifices and the sacrificial rites, that priestly nature of Jesus Christ's sacrifice of himself, Mark would be the lion, because Mark makes a point of pointing out that Jesus is the lion from Judah, and Matthew being the man, because in Matthew's genealogy, he traces his genealogy all the way back to Abraham, and he goes and begins there with this whole unfolding of God's plan in the fullness of time to bring about Jesus, who became man and dwelt among us. So we've just begun Ezekiel, which is a great thing because we have a long way to go. Ezekiel is one of the longer books of the Bible and not as long as Isaiah, but it is 48 chapters long. And so we have a long time we're going to spend with the prophet Ezekiel, which is a great thing, because we're going to team up Isaiah and Ezekiel, and then in a number of days, we're going to start the prophet Jeremiah, these three major prophets, and we get them all over the next couple weeks. Couple days.So that's such a gift. It is also such a gift to be able to walk with you and be part of this community. Thank you so much. Please keep praying for each other. Please pray for me.I'm praying for you. My name is Fr. Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God blessed.

't want to give it away, but he wins the 400 meters dash. But at one point, when he was supposed to be in the heats, instead, he was preaching in one of the churches in the area.

And he, in the movie at least, he is quoting Isaiah, chapter 40, where he says that God gives power to the faint and to him who has no might. He increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted. But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles.

They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. And so powerful. Eric little went on to become a missionary, I believe, in China, where he gave his life for the Lord as a martyr. And so we're just, you know, so grateful for the example of all of those martyrs who got their strength from the Lord Jesus, including those martyrs, those current modern day martyrs.

Even, even more people have given their lives for Jesus Christ. In the last century, than in all the other centuries combined, which is amazing. And Eric little is one of those people. So that's Isaiah, chapter 39 and 40. But we also got introduced to the book of Ezekiel.

A little background on Ezekiel. Ezekiel was a priest, not only a prophet, right. He's a prophet, Ezekiel, but he was a priest. He was of the household of Levi, right? Tribe of Levi, household of Aaron, he would imagine, because he was a priest, and he is taken into exile.

In fact, remember, there are three stages of exile. There's the first wave of exile that happens, and that is when Daniel is brought into exile. That happens way back, all the way back in 605 BC, and then roughly, gosh, seven years later, I'm bad with math, in 597 BC, that's the second wave of exile. And that's when Ezekiel went into exile in Babylon. And now Ezekiel says he starts.

He begins this book of the prophet Ezekiel, saying in the 30th year, when he turned 30. Now, think about this. He's been exiled. He's away from the temple. But being a priest of the Lord God, he would have begun his temple worship or temple service.

I mean, at 30 years old, that's when he would have begun this. And instead, he's by this river Chadar and in Babylon, in the land of the Chaldeans. And we just recognize that here is this man who had so much hope, right? Had so much promise, because he was raised. He lived under the time of Josiah, where he saw all this reform.

You have the reinstitution of the priesthood. You have the reinstitution of true and proper worship happening in the temple. And here is Ezekiel, who has been prepped for this his whole life. And then, bam, here comes the Babylonians, and they take the people of Israel into exile in 605. And then here's Ezekiel and his wife are brought into exile in 597, and he's among the captives.

And it's there. It's in this place that he sees something remarkable. And obviously, we have the whole description of the four figures. And then above them, seated on the throne, is someone who looks like he's containing fire itself. And the big takeaway I want to just offer is this.

Ezekiel was brought from Jerusalem, brought from the temple, where the presence of God was. He's brought to a land that is foreign, where he's a captive, where he is not home, where God, in some ways, you say doesn't exist. God doesn't abide there, right? He abides in Jerusalem, although God is everywhere. And what does God reveal to Ezekiel?

God reveals to Ezekiel that he has gone with his people into exile. And this is so incredible. This is so remarkable that God has not abandoned his people. Remember, this exile is because they have been unfaithful. This exile is for their remedy, right?

It's for their healing. It's for bringing their hearts back. And what is revealed in the very first words of first chapter, of course, of the book of Ezekiel is that as God's people are brought into exile, God himself allows himself to go into exile with them. And that is just. Oh, gosh, if that doesn't touch your heart, I just don't even know.

It's incredible. One last note before we take a break for today is there's these four creatures, right? These four living creatures, and they have four faces and the face of a man, face of a lion, face of ox, face of an eagle. And they're just really remarkable. We'll see this kind of image in other places.

We see allusions to this in Daniel and revelation and whatnot. But the church fellows have always interpreted that these faces have an allusion to the gospel writers. And so you have, historically, you have Matthew as the face of the man, and the face of the lion is Mark, the face of the ox is Luke, and the face of the eagle is John. And some of the ways we would interpret that is eagle because John is the eagle, because he begins in the beginning, was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. And so it starts really high and lofty, right like the eagle soaring.

Luke is the ox, because Luke is talking about the sacrifices and the sacrificial rites, that priestly nature of Jesus Christ's sacrifice of himself, Mark would be the lion, because Mark makes a point of pointing out that Jesus is the lion from Judah, and Matthew being the man, because in Matthew's genealogy, he traces his genealogy all the way back to Abraham, and he goes and begins there with this whole unfolding of God's plan in the fullness of time to bring about Jesus, who became man and dwelt among us. So we've just begun Ezekiel, which is a great thing because we have a long way to go. Ezekiel is one of the longer books of the Bible and not as long as Isaiah, but it is 48 chapters long. And so we have a long time we're going to spend with the prophet Ezekiel, which is a great thing, because we're going to team up Isaiah and Ezekiel, and then in a number of days, we're going to start the prophet Jeremiah, these three major prophets, and we get them all over the next couple weeks. Couple days.

So that's such a gift. It is also such a gift to be able to walk with you and be part of this community. Thank you so much. Please keep praying for each other. Please pray for me.

I'm praying for you. My name is Fr. Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God blessed.